Afghanistan still holds substantial opium stockpiles, sufficient to meet the needs of narcotics trafficking networks despite a poppy cultivation ban by the Taliban, according to a United Nations Security Council report. The UN team monitoring sanctions on the Taliban highlighted that due to these large reserves, the narcotics trade remains significant, undeterred by the ban.
The report indicated that the opium stockpiles are so extensive that export levels show no significant change, and it might take years to fully assess the impact of the cultivation ban introduced in April 2022. Senior Taliban officials and well-connected traders continue to profit from drug trafficking, with notable figures such as the governors of Nangarhar and Balkh provinces controlling key trafficking routes.
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Indian officials reported that Karachi-based Haji Salim, associated with ISI, coordinates with Afghan drug lords to traffic narcotics into India. This network also funds anti-India terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba using drug proceeds.
According to the report, despite Taliban’s efforts to eradicate drug production, including the destruction of numerous labs and crops, progress in curbing heroin trafficking and synthetic drug trade remains limited. Methamphetamine production and trafficking continue, with significant seizures, including fentanyl.
Indian security agencies have discovered links between Afghan cartels and drug smuggling networks targeting India. Investigations revealed large heroin consignments orchestrated by Kandahar-based masterminds, the Dad brothers, smuggled through Indian ports.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) found that these traffickers use fake companies and local retailers as part of an international smuggling network spanning Afghanistan, Iran, and the UAE.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has urged security agencies to take stringent action against drug smuggling networks, with the government working on installing container scanners at all Indian ports and land border crossings.
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